24/7 Prayer and Worship at the Washington Monument

I truly believe the US is going to see a huge revival within the next 10 to 15 years, similar to the Great Awakening of the 1700s.  Last weekend I went to Washington DC for a couple days to take part in a prayer movement in the heart of our nation's capitol.  Right next to the Washington Monument is a white tent with clear windows, a heater, and a sign that says, "David's Tent".  It is a place of 24/7 prayer and worship that began September 11th and will continue until the election in November of next year.  And by 24/7 I mean not a single minute passes day or night without somebody worshipping. 

A couple friends and I signed up for two-hour slots two nights in a row; from 3 to 5 AM.  We parked on an empty Constitution Avenue at 1 AM and walked up the Mall with our guitar cases and banjo.  Sitting and praying before our set began the first night I had one of those moments where you start smiling involuntarily and can't stop.  I was sitting in the center of the capitol of the United States, worshipping Jesus with a bunch of radical 20-somethings, praying for revival.  How could it even be possible that something big wasn't going to come out of this?

Two all-nighters of singing in the cold sandwiched between a couple 10 hour drives ensured that I ended up with a pretty bad cold to pass off to my family in Ohio but it was totally worth it.  Who wouldn't make such a small sacrifice to be part of something so eternal?  That first great awakening was preceded by a prayer movement and though it mostly consisted of churched Americans reviving the church, it led to what was called "the second great awakening" which was a massive turn of non-believers to Christ all across the country.  In fact, if you look back you'll find that most big movements of God have been preceded by revivals of prayer.  With IHOP in Kansas City, Bethel in Reading, all the Burns everywhere, and now David's Tent right on the Capitol Mall we are destined to see something big.  I felt so privileged to sit on that white fold-out chair in the presence of the Almighty God and sing until my throat was sore at five in the morning.  A perfect way to close out the year and usher in a new age. 

What Does Antifreeze Taste Like?

Last Friday I found myself underneath my car.  One side was jacked up with my little spare-tire jack.  My legs stuck out into the only free space on the driveway, the rest of which was covered in an assortment of brush guards, radiator fans, and other various parts and bolts.  I stared up at my coolant reservoir as I yanked and wiggled a slimy black hose.  It finally came free, simultaneously smashing the back of my hand and filling up my ear with a stream of bright green antifreeze.  Success!  It was almost completely dark and it had started to rain, but I was elated.  My coolant tank was free and now all I had to do was install the new one and figure out how to put back all the parts I had removed.  I had overcome. 

Near the climax of one of my favorite movies, Little Miss Sunshine, Steve Carell talks about one of the greatest French writers of all time.  "Total loser. Never had a real job. Unrequited love affairs. Spent 20 years writing a book almost no one reads. But he's also probably the greatest writer since Shakespeare. Anyway, he gets down to the end of his life, and he looks back and decides that all those years he suffered, Those were the best years of his life, 'cause they made him who he was. All those years he was happy? You know, total waste. Didn't learn a thing."    

I remember my first manager and professional mentor at Honeywell told me he preferred working with the small turbine engines as opposed to the larger, more prioritized and funded projects.  "There's more obstacles" he said, "I like the challenge."  I wondered if maybe the path of least resistance wasn't always the most obvious choice.  What if I started choosing paths that had more obstacles, just because they had more obstacles?  Maybe life isn't about creating safe environments free of hardships for yourself or avoiding all suffering.  Maybe spending time overcoming obstacles in order to be free of them is counter-productive.  Maybe overcoming obstacles in order to get to a place where you can find bigger obstacles is more fulfilling. 

Every once in a while I question why I chose to work a job that I have to pay to do.  Why did I leave a job that pays me lots of money to do something I literally have to beg on the side just to sustain myself?  I look at my seemingly insurmountable fundraising goal and feel a little queasy.  How am I ever going to find 30 monthly supporters?  But then I remember that in the right context, even antifreeze can taste like delicious success, and I know that that queasy feeling in my stomach is actually a good indicator that I'm on the right path. 

The Florida Keys in a Weekend

Sometimes when you've got a bad cold it's good to take 2 days off and lie in bed. Other times when you're not feeling so well it's good to take 2 days off and drive 15 hours to a tropical island and go snorkeling with sharks and chase barracuda.  Here's a hint as to the route I went:

Bored while stuck in Miami traffic 

Driving west into the sunset 

Time for a nap at our campsite 

80 degrees and sunny - perfect sleeping weather

Some visitors were interested in our leftover cheese danish crumbs 

"Southernmost Point in the Continental USA, Key West, FL"

Serenity 

Apparently wild iguanas aren't intimidated by humans with cameras

Key West - "Home of the sunset" 

Who can sleep with a night sky as brilliant as this?  

"Oo take my picture!" 

Picture perfect beaches 

Excited after getting to see a shark, barracuda, and a thousand other fish!

$25 for a day snorkeling trip to the coral reef

Our awkward family road-trip picture while we wait for our things to dry 

Making friends with a manatee 

Feeding Tarpon - later he got his finger bit! 

A quick stop in Cocoa on the way back to kayak through the mangroves

The (not so?) Great Commission

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  The great commission.  Jesus' final words before he ascended into Heaven.  The objective of the Christian church; to finish the work that Jesus started of establishing the Kingdom of God through his church, by being the hands and feet of Jesus on earth.  So.  It's been 2000 years.  How are we coming along? 

Well, 42.1% (3 billion) of the world's population, 6,900 people groups, are still unreached.  There are 2.2 billion Christians in the world, 550 million of which are evangelicals.  There are 78,000 Evangelical Christians for every one unreached people group.  So how many missionaries are currently among the unreached?  13,315 or 0.0005% of Christians.  

The annual income of all church members in the world is $42 trillion.  Of that, $700 billion is given to Christian causes - church, missions, etc.  Of that, $45 billion is given to missions (which is $5 billion less than is embezzled annually by the church).  And of that, $45 million goes toward unreached people groups.  That's only 0.001% of Christians' income.  For every $100,000 earned, $1 goes toward reaching the unreached. 

Evangelical Christians could provide all of the funds needed to plant a church in each of the 6,900 unreached people groups with only 0.03% of their income.  The Church has roughly 3,000 times the financial resources and 9,000 times the manpower needed to finish the Great Commission.

Come on church!  What's going on here?  We are basically hoarding 99.99% of our income to ourselves and sending virtually nobody at all out to make disciples of all nations.  I will say though, as depressing as these statistics are, that God is still accomplishing his work, the mustard seed that Jesus planted in the garden is still growing whether people opt to help Him or not.  In the last 500 years Evangelicals have grown from 3 million to 550 million.  In the last century, the continent of Africa has gone from 9 million to 390 million Christians.  In 2006 alone there were 30 million new adherents to the faith.  Christianity continues to grow at a faster rate than ever before.  What an incredible opportunity there is to be a part of something so big and so important for the few who choose it!  Come on church, let's change those statistics!  We can finally be the generation that finishes the job and makes disciples of all nations!  I actually believe we might see it happen in our lifetime. 

statistics source: 

www.thetravelingteam.org/stats/

[1] International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 39, No. 1,  also World Christian Database, 2015,*Barrett and Johnson. 2001. World Christian Trends, pg 656, [2] Todd Johnson, Global Atlas of Christianity, pg 296, [3]. Baxter, Mark R. 2007. The Coming Revolution: Because Status Quo Missions Won't Finish the Job

How to Solve Racism

We, as Americans, have no power to solve our own race issues between blacks and whites.  In a court trial between an abused person and the abuser which person gets to determine the verdict? Neither, they are both intrinsically biased, the judge gets to decide.  When a football player stretches out for the touchdown and thinks he scores but the other team says it wasn't quite enough, who settles the ensuing disagreement?  Someone who is on neither team, someone who doesn't care who wins, someone who they both trust - a referee.  In a history as dark and convoluted as ours in the States who gets to speak what is true?  Who gets to decide what is just?  Who gets to voice the motives of the parties involved?  Well. How about Indian immigrants? 

Ajay on center stage

Last week I started tearing up (as in crying, not ruining a dance floor).   I was at a church planting conference in Orlando Florida.  I was one of a few white people among 70 second generation immigrants from India.  "We have this beautiful opportunity," said the speaker, "to speak truth into the race issues here in the States.  We are neither black nor white.  We don't share their history or their issues, we have our own set of different issues."  Thinking of people coming from a different country  with all the hardships of being a foreigner, taking on the responsibility and complexity of involving themselves in our personal disputes made me feel like crying.  How beautiful.  How selfless.  Sounds like something Jesus would do.  Sounds like something Jesus is doing.  We need them.  We need some Indian missionaries.  Because we can't do this by ourselves.

Chic-Filet catered our lunch

It gets me excited to be an American moving to India.  Who knows what kind of cultural issues and debates that I will have the privilege of being bi-partisan to, what kind of truths I will be able to speak that can only be accepted if it's me speaking them; just by living in a foreign country and getting to know those around me and seeking to love them.  Maybe I am the answer to racism in India. 

Happy Birthday Mom!

Ruth's.  Even now that possessive name instantly brings a sense of dread.  Ruth was this old lady from our church who used to give us the worst fruitcake ever made.  I would hide it in my shirt and then dump it in an inconspicuous place like behind a couch or dresser when I got the chance.  She was nice but her house was pretty much a tortuous jail cell for a 10 year old that had plenty of energy to spare until it was time to do chores. We would go over once a week or so and mow her grass and clean her house because she lived all alone.  She had the thickest grass I had ever seen.  I would have to unclog the mower every twelve steps.  The only upside was that it could conceal an incredible amount of fruitcake. 

And then there was Janet.  She smoked about a hundred packs of cigarettes a day and owned a whole generation of cats.  My nose is still recovering.  We would go over once a week or so and try to help clean her mobile home, but she mostly just wanted to talk.  She would send us home with Disney movies on VHS she had run off for us from a cable station.  I appreciated being able to watch The Swiss Family Robinson every day but it definitely wasn't worth the weekly visit. 

I also have a few suppressed memories from volunteering at the Salvation Army, which despite the perk of being able to price toys at an affordable rate and shelve them behind mounds of clothes for an improved shopping experience later, was mostly just two hours of mind numbing boredom.  And the food kitchen where I would have to carry boxes all morning.  And Pete's.  And there are probably more that are escaping my memory. 

Ungrateful as I was for these opportunities to grow in character and help the elderly in the process, I think something deep down knew that what my Mom was doing, entirely voluntarily out of the good of her heart, was inherently fulfilling.  It wasn't until much much later in life though that I could look back and see that it was shaping me into someone who had a deep rooted faith in God.  Because I saw that the Gospel made a difference, that church wasn't just a room of hypocrisy, that God did actively love his created beings.  It was showing me what true religion looked like.  So thanks Mom.  Thanks for following out your convictions with deeds.  Thanks for taking the time and effort on top of all your loads of responsibilities to esteem others above yourself.  Thanks for visiting Ruth and Janet in their afflictions.  And thanks for dragging along your whiny son, even when he carefully dropped his mouth of fruitcake into his hand and inconspicuously pushed it deep under the couch. 

 - Love Brant

Why I Choose to Live in a Trailer Home

Why would I, as a 29 year old retired engineer/missionary to India choose to live in a trailer park with 700 Mexican immigrants?  Good question, thank you for asking.  Given the choice between a big lake-house with a boat dock and manicured lawn or a dilapidated trailer in a claustrophobic trailer park, which would you choose?  Yeah, me too.  I'll take the trailer every time.  One our first days coming to see the trailer before we moved in, my roommate Drea met one of the neighbors, Carlos.  After a short conversation he looked at her with a kind of awkward expression on his face and said, "um, so this neighborhood is preddy much all Latino."  "Yeah I know," she responded with a smile.

Last night we hosted a house-warming party.  We had over a hundred people show up.  It was raining so you can imagine the kind of overwhelming amount of personal space invasion that was happening in our double-wide.  It was a mix of white privileged 20-somethings, middle aged stay-at-home Mexican moms, and wild middle-schoolers.  It was a party to remember.  At one point I was wedged between a few people, waiting for space to grab some nachos, and I saw right in the middle of everything, with blaring music and nay-nay dancing on one side and hordes of people shouting over the noise to have a conversation on the other side, one of my co-workers with her hand on an older lady's shoulder, her eyes shut tight in prayer.  This is the kind of beautiful thing that can happen when two cultures clash. 

Drea excited to move in

It's awkward when people don't obey the unspoken social norms.  In a small lake-town in Georgia white people generally live in large, spaced out double-story homes with beautiful trees separating them from their neighbors, and brown people live hidden in trailer courts and working in chicken factories.  Most people probably don't even know that hardly any of the people from the trailer homes will graduate from their segregated high schools; or that 700 people live in a 160-trailer community.  Alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, and hopelessness run rampant.  So when some of those white hipsters move into a trailer park it gets awkward for everyone.  Things can't change as long as they are ignored. 

Housewarming party

Do we really believe that all were created equal?  Do we really believe that race has no bearing on worth?  Do we really believe that our identity is unrelated to our material possessions and personal level of comfort?  Then why are we so segregated?  Shouldn't the fact that rent is cheaper be enough motivation to live in a trailer home?  Or the potential to have interesting conversations with people of a different culture?  Or to be able to help out a couple middle-aged moms with their English lessons?  I think those are all great reasons to move into a trailer park.  I moved here to play tag with Junior and shake hands with Carlos. 

Just a Little Inspiration

I'm sitting in Inman Perk Coffee on the square looking for some inspiration.  I love writing but lately I've been having trouble finding something I really want to write about.  So I glance up at the art on the wall beside me.  A dead tree filled with birds, the painting overflowing onto the picture frame.  I sip on my chai latte and feel the crisp autumn air come through the door as someone walks in.  On the opposite wall is a chalk drawing of a distorted feminine face crying and a caption that says "I only ever wanted love."  Inspiration. 

So I turn to the book of Philippians.  "One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead… do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

Well I'm not having any problem thinking about what lies ahead right now.  Tomorrow begins a four day backpacking trip through the wilderness of the blue mountains in South Carolina.  There will be 40 people split into 5 groups on five different remote trails.  I am responsible for the planning and facilitation of everything.  I hope nobody dies.  After that I will be moving into my trailer home with 5 other people as an AIM CGA "House mentor".  At the same time I'll be getting everything ready to move to India, recruiting two or three more people for the India team, and helping with church planting and trailer park ministry here in GA.  Plus I need to be at 90% of my monthly fundraising goal of $1500.  And now I'm wondering where the line between "straining forward" and "anxious" is. 

But seriously, as I think about what lies ahead; all the things in my future that God is bringing, all the truth, justice, purity, loveliness, and excellence; the excitement of planting churches in India and watching Jesus transform lives and bring peace and honor to destitute places, I feel like God is with me.  And I guess even without a ridiculous story, or crazy breakthrough, or life-changing chalk art, I feel inspired. 

7.5th Annual DHMH: Olympic National Park

"You literally saved my marriage" he said as tears rolled down his face.  Everyone in the circle was crying as Dan stood up and embraced him.  It was well after sunset and a chilly wind had begun to blow down from the jagged, glacier strewn mountain peaks.  Blisters, sore knees, chafing, and paralyzing beef jerky aftermath caused most of the men to sit in awkward postures on their bear canisters or log seats.  Around the circle a small gathering of ultralight tents were shaking lightly in the wind, behind those an icy cold mountain stream gurgled over a bed of white rocks, and behind that thousand foot cliffs rose up steeply and framed a star-studded night sky.  However, none of the 12 men in the circle seemed to be aware of anything in that moment except the people standing up telling their stories. 

Michael sharing some Dan stories as night approaches 

It was the 7.5th annual Dan Hoffman Memorial Hike and this was a special year because two days after the hike ended Dan Hoffman was getting married.  This year the hike was his bachelor party.  In typical DHMH fashion we had arrived at the trailhead six hours late with way too much food and not nearly enough physical training.  Two hard-earned days later we found ourselves nestled in the appropriately named Enchanted Valley of Olympic National Forest in the northwest corner of Washington state, surrounded by redwood-sized trees draped in green moss and jungle vines.  As we sat in a circle and shared how our friend Dan Hoffman had impacted each of our lives, doubled-over laughter and legitimate tears accompanied every set of stories.  "Remember that year you worked for Starbucks and couldn't pay rent?" "Remember when you helped me propose to my wife on top of a mountain in the dark?" "Remember that time we drove around Morocco together?" "You specifically showed me what family was" "You talked me off a ledge" "You sent me peanut butter when I was trapped in the Peace Corps" "You sat up and prayed with me all night" "Dan, you realize it's not normal for twelve people to all consider you their best friend right?"  You see, this isn't just an annual hike, it's a brotherhood. 

Entering Enchanted Valley

Day two I was hiking along with Clint, making conversation to keep my mind off of my sore feet, and I asked the question, "Why do we do this?"  Why do we abandon the shelter, running water, and toilet paper that we've worked so hard for to go out and walk on dirt paths with 40 lb (or in Clint's case 52 lb) packs?  I wasn't asking that because I was questioning the stunning beauty that surrounded me that is only available by foot.  I wasn't asking because I thought the blisters, sore feet, terrible trail food, and absence of showers detracted from rather than added to the experience.  And I wasn't asking because I thought that the risk of death or injury outweighed the sense of accomplishment.  I was asking because it was more than worth a hundred times the pain, risk, and discomfort.  What inexplicable value did I feel in my soul, so invigorating that I actually rejoiced at so low a cost?  It was the brotherhood and forced dependence, it was the overcoming of deliberate and strenuous circumstances, it was the sense of the very presence of God, it was the feeling that this is what I was made to do.  To meet once a year with men like Dan Hoffman, who had intentionally walked beside me during some of my greatest times of need, on a muddy mountain trail surrounded by forests of mythical proportions and bears of mythical existence, and once again walk beside him and share another experience impossible to forget.  To take part in the very essence of life.  The 2015 7.5th annual DHMH of Olympic National Forest; another epic success. 

Some of the guys drove thousands of miles for this week

Finally on the trail 

My morning coffee 

Probably talking about how many minutes of sleep each one got last night

This year Dan's dad Peter came. He was a trooper!

Despite being guaranteed to see a bear, we saw not a single one

Ryan and Kevin

We all snacked on wild raspberries and blueberries throughout the 35 mile hike

Thad poses for an epic shot

Capturing the peaks poking through the clouds

Starting dinner.  That big black canister is a bear can.

We actually heard two of these giant trees collapse 

Fishing break

A little mossy waterfall is on the right

glaciers

Tim gives a little perspective to this fallen tree

Wanna read last years DHMH blog? 

Interesting Facts about India

• India is the largest democracy in the world, the 7th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.
• Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world 
• India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
• The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
• Chess was invented in India.
• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies which originated in India.
• The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.
• The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.
• The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
• India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India's wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
• The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.
• Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.
• The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.
• Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus also originated in India. Quadratic Equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C.during the Vedic period.Even today, the largest used number is Terra: 10*12(10 to the power of 12).

• Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
• 2.5% of Indians claim Christianity 
• GDP per capita is $1,630 (as a point of reference in the US it is $54,600)

Source = www.KnowIndia.gov.In

How to Train for Long-Term Missions

How do you prepare to move long-term to India?  Well, it's Sunday afternoon, it is pouring rain, and I find myself sitting in the only hip coffee shop in downtown Gainesville Georgia with two empty cappuccino mugs sitting on the table in front of me.  I have been here all morning sending emails, typing specific combinations of words into my google search bar, calling various people, and now writing this blog.  Does that answer your question?  Yes.  Surprisingly, it does.

And just how does that answer your question?  Well, it tells you that I didn't attend church this morning.  Not because "not attending church" is part of my training to prepare for a place where there is no church to attend, but because I already attended church every day this week.  I worked there 9 to 5 each day, I slept there every night, worshipped with them Monday morning, and played ultimate frisbee with them on Wednesday.  Possibly the biggest part of my training is to take part in the community, or church, here at AIM headquarters.  It is important to understand the sending agencies' vision, expectations, and culture and to build relationships within the organization before I run off to India.  The way that AIM represents the diverse body of Christ as the church is exactly what I want to replicate in Hyderabad with my own team.

It also tells you that I don't have time during the work week to write a blog or research the "top ten reasons missionaries leave the field" or call my friend at EastWest Ministries to ask what kind of language training her team leader is putting her through before she leaves.  That is because my time during the work week is taken up by classes on cultural lenses and conflict resolution, discipleship meetings, and following around the CEO of AIM to get an understanding of how he runs things.  Life stays very busy here in Georgia. 

This little snippet of my life this Sunday afternoon also communicates one of my top priorities: research.  I am continually interviewing and reading about how to train a team, how to lead, how to be a missionary, what my Indian contacts' expectations are, how to be useful overseas, how to plant a church and feed hungry children and not file for bankruptcy in the process, and a myriad of other things.  There are a lot of things to think about when you are starting up a new ministry. 

So how do you prepare for long term missions?  Well let me just say it takes lots of cappuccinos. 

Church? 

PS. Thank you so much everyone who has begun to support me monthly!  I now have about $180 per month coming in, so I am beginning to build up to my goal of $1000 monthly.  I am going to automatically add my supporters to a prayer-request email but if anyone else would also like to partner though prayer just send me a message. Dios le bendiga!

Lessons from India (for real this time)

So about 6 months ago when I first came home from India I wrote a blog titled "What Did I Learn in India?"  I didn't really answer the question in the blog but instead talked about how I was annoyed with everyone asking me that question.  Well, now I am apologizing to my readers because it is actually very important to reflect on how the stories we live out impact our worldview and sense of personal growth.  It's a question that my mentor asked me last Thursday and so yesterday I sat down for four hours and tried to process some of the events from my time in India.  I discovered that almost every memory and story had a lesson behind it that I had already accepted as a part of my story and identity and had applied in various ways in my life without even realizing it.  I came up with about fifteen stories that imparted important life lessons.  Here are three of them. 

One of my first weeks of ministry in the slums ended in chaotic disaster.  There were two teams of volunteers, named according to the train stations where they went searching for desperate and dying people; Sealdah and Howrah.  Because there was no overall leader each team ran things their own way and had little interaction with each other.  Whoever had the most experience acted as the general leader for each team.  Our ministry was exclusive, not just any volunteer could join, and the Howrah team disapproved of one of the volunteers that the Sealdah team 'let in'.  So she called a meeting.  Neither side would budge.  Howrah demanded he leave and Sealdah insisted he stay.  There was yelling, tension, and hurt feelings on both sides.  The worst part was, the volunteer in question was also one of the meeting attendees!  As part of the solution I volunteered to switch teams.  After having worked with both sides for a while I came to enjoy both and understood why the philosophy needed to be different for each team.  Lessons learned:

1. All relationships are important.  Your coworkers are just as important as the people you are working to reach. 
2. Making an effort to walk in someone else's shoes brings reconciliation. 
3. Mission work is difficult and stressful and missionaries are normal people who need as much grace as anyone else.

Train Station

One of my favorite memories from Kolkata was of a man I approached on a train platform.  I noticed he was homeless and sat down next to him.  He didn't speak any English or Bangla so we couldn't talk but I offered him a little fried snack and he was obviously surprised and excited.  He smiled and gave me a hug, then he rummaged around in his bag for something he could give me.  He didn’t have much of anything, no changes of clothes, no food, no money.  The only thing he had a was a bit of red twisted thread.  It was dirty, knotted and ripped but it was all he owned.  He placed it in my hand and motioned that I should clean it and then turn it into an anklet.  I walked away feeling more encouraged and uplifted than if I had been given a million dollars.  That anklet is one of my favorite possessions to this day.  Lessons learned:

1. Although ministering to the poor is generally thankless and uncompensated work, the times when you are shown gratitude are worth more than all the money and recognition in the world. 
2. Sitting next to someone on the street communicates love.  It is an acknowledgement that you have time for them and that you are both of equal importance and stature. 
3. The poor have as much, if not more, to teach us as we do them. 

Train Platform

The nuns of the Missionaries of Charity taught me a lot in all aspects of life, but the most impactful part of my time with them was probably their Adoration service.  It was basically a daily prayer service an  hour and a half long in a room offering only a concrete floor to kneel on.  Most of the prayer was silent but every once in a while they would sing a hymn a-cappella.  I had to walk over a mile in hundred degree heat to get there and it was at the most inconvenient time possible but I found I could connect with God better than any church I had been to.  Lessons learned:

1. Even worship songs and the Bible can be distractions at times.
2. Being together with other people in prayer is powerful, even when there are no words spoken out loud.
3. There is something about dedicating time to God and prioritizing that time that opens communication with Him.  It might have something to do with the fact that we value things more that we sacrifice more for.

Near the end of my time in Kolkata

It is never too late to process an experience.  I am finding that just taking a few hours to sit down and write out experiences and then asking "what did I learn from that experience?" can be almost as impactful as the experience itself.  It helps you understand yourself better and have some wisdom to share with other people as well. I highly recommend it.